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Wayúu Indigenous community and others v. Ministry of Environment and others - petition

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On February 22, 2019, the Wayúu Indigenous community of Northern Colombia and other individuals filed a lawsuit seeking the annulment of the environmental license (among other resolutions) that authorized the Cerrejón Zona Norte Coal Mining Project in La Guajira region since 1983. Plaintiffs claim that the environmental licensing process failed to comply with environmental provisions and principles, violating the rights of the Wayúu community and the general population to a healthy environment, human health, and free, prior and informed consent. Among petitioners’ requests is a study of all water bodies that are being affected by the mine operations including the costs in terms of ecosystem preservation and the health of the vulnerable communities. 

Particularly, plaintiffs argue that every natural resource exploitation project should consider the specificities and realities of climate change. Petitioners also claim that environmental licensing processes must analyze Colombia’s obligations to address climate change and Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs before issuing a permit. Among the plaintiffs’ arguments is that the Colombian government failed to consider the impact of coal mining on climate change when studying the environmental permit’s request. Plaintiffs invoked the correlation between coal mining and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to ask for the mine’s closure as a way to ensure the transition towards a cleaner energy and Colombia’s compliance with its international commitments.

Finally, along with the main lawsuit, plaintiffs also asked for a precautionary measure that prevents the environmental authorities from issuing modification permits in this particular project. Petitioners argue that any expansion of the existing mining project could worsen the environmental harms and climate change effects.

Wayúu Indigenous community and others v. Ministry of Environment and others

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Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

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Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

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The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

A subsidy is a direct or indirect payment to individuals or businesses, typically provided as a government cash payment or a specific tax reduction.

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

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People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

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A drought is an extended period of unusually dry weather marked by a significant and sustained lack of precipitation, falling below a specific threshold over a large area for more than a month

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Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

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woman and genders outside of the gender binary

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Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Wayúu Indigenous community and others v. Ministry of Environment and others - petition

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance